Problematic Trauma
by Suigetsu Kushina36
Summary: Everybody has an "off day," even the team mom. Maybe this is a little more than just a dizzy spell though...


"Alright, everyone! Onto the bus!" Daichi shouted with a clap of his hands. The Karasuno team cheered with excitement, except Tsukishima and Yamaguchi, as they all boarded the bus to head to their practice match against Aoba Johsai. Sugawara stood beside the team's captain, his ears covered to drown out the noise.

Now, if you ever asked him, he wouldn't hesitate to admit it; Sugawara was very proud of his role as "the team mom" and took it seriously. If his teammates were feeling down about anything, volleyball related or not, he would be the first one there to help them perk up. He really cared about each and every one of his them, just like a real mother would. This even included that warm feeling of pride and happiness he felt watching his "children" excitedly climb onto the bus...

Except that feeling wasn't there today. Today, Sugawara's head was pounding horribly and he swayed slightly on his feet, although he was hoping nobody would notice. He knew that everyone was both excited and nervous about this practice match, which is the only reason he didn't stay at home today. With any luck, maybe he could just power through the migraine and make it through this match.

Everyone was seated in their usual spots and the bus started it's journey to Aoba Johsai. Sugawara stayed quiet next to Daichi. Keeping his head upright was becoming difficult and the small setter had to give in, sliding himself closer to his captain and laying his head on the others shoulder. Daichi gave him a worried glance.

"Suga...? Are you..." He leaned a little bit closer, making sure only Sugawara could hear, despite the loud children in the back of the bus."Are you feeling okay?"

Sugawara had his eyes closed and nodded with a small hum. "'m just a bit off this morning. But I'll be fine. I'll just drink one of the water bottles when we get there."

"Two of them," Daichi responded, leaving no room for an argument. Sugawara only chuckled at him.

"You're troublesome..." he mumbled, beginning to drift off to sleep from the slight swaying of the bus.

When the bus had finally arrived, Daichi slowly pushed Sugawara upright in his seat and gently shook him awake. Sugawara blinked awake with a tired moan and stretched. The other team members had already stood and started to step off the bus.

"Aren't you the one who always tells _us_ to get enough sleep before matches, _mom?" _Nishinoya commented as he walked by Sugawara.

"Behave yourself, Nishinoya. I won't get you any ice cream after the match if you aren't good," Sugawara replied, giving the libero a gentle push. Nishinoya chuckled at the empty threat, but kept his mouth shut in case the team mom decided to make that a promise.

Sugawara exited the bus after the rest of the team, Daichi following behind him. The captain walked at the smaller male's pace, holding an arm out behind him in case he needed help staying on his feet. "Do you feel any better?" Daichi asked.

The silver-haired setter nodded and accepted the offered help, leaning into his partner as he still swayed. "Yeah, a little. I'm a bit dizzy still. I just need that water."

"Suga...if you need to rest-

Sugawara quickly interrupted. "No, Daichi, I'm fine. Really. Just a little dehydrated, that's all. I'll drink some water and be completely fine." Daichi still gave him a worried look, but trusted that Sugawara knew what he was talking about...

But Sugawara did not know what he was talking about. Everyone got changed into their practice uniforms and went out to the gym to meet with the Aoba Johsai team and start their warm-ups, while Sugawara sat on the bench with Ukai and Takeda trying to quickly down a water bottle so he could join the others. But it wasn't helping him at all. In fact, every small gulp of the cold water he managed to swallow was only making him feel nauseous. He wanted to drink the water faster and get it over with, but he was too afraid that if he did he would definitely throw up. Then they really wouldn't let him play in the match.

He drank the water as quickly as his body would allow, seeing Daichi glance at him every ten seconds, and walked out to join the rest of the team, trying to look as normal and healthy as possible.

"Okay, I'm ready to get started now," Sugawara said with a sigh and his usual smile.

"Are you sure?" Asahi asked with a worried look.

"Yes, all I needed was a little rest and some water. See, children, this is why we hydrate." That got everyone to at least smile, except for Tsukishima, and Kageyama and Hinata both perked up with a "Yes, Sugawara-san!" Daichi gave him a smile and a gentle pat on the back before they all went back to their warm-ups.

As Sugawara joined everyone in the routine, everything got worse. His migraine came back full force, and every time he looked up to set the ball to one of the other players, his vision blurred and he noticeably swayed. He was completely out of it, and everyone started to notice. Daichi and Asahi were the most concerned. But when anyone asked, the setter kept reassuring that he was completely fine, keeping his happy, refreshing smile on his face.

On the inside, though, Sugawara was suffering. His head was pounding, he was very nauseous and the whole room seemed to be spinning. He was certainly not fine, and part of him was ready to tell Ukai that so he could go lie down in the infirmary... After another wave of nausea, Sugawara decided he had to. He finally let the fake smile fade, giving a pained and upset look at Daichi who nodded in understanding, and started to walk across the court to where the coach was sitting. He had his head in his hands, trying to calm the spinning, and couldn't focus on anything...

"SUGA!" The shout came from Daichi. The setter lifted his head up to see what was happening just in time to see the scared look on Oikawa's face from the other side of the net and the volleyball he just hit headed straight towards him. The only thing Sugawara had time to do was turn his head and not get hit directly in his face. He fell back immediately, his head slamming against the ground with the rest of the small boy's body. He stayed conscious long enough to here a cacophony of panicked yelling.

"Koushi! Koushi, are you alright?! Where did you get hit?!"

"Sugawara-san?! What happened, is he alright? What's going on?"

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry! I didn't see him, I didn't know!"

"Where did you hit him?!"

"Asahi, calm down, he didn't mean to."

"Where did it hit him?!"

"I-I don't know, I was just..."

_Morning practice was going smoothly, as always. After a quick run down the road and back, diving drills, and receiving practice, the Karasuno volleyball team lined up to practice their serves. They were lined up so that the third years on the team would serve first; three good serves over the net and then the next person would go. Coach Ukai, however, made the decision to have the first year Sugawara Koushi serve first and then head to the net and watch the others._

_Sugawara wasn't the best server on the team, due to a lack of muscle making his serves pretty soft and easy to receive, but Ukai often praised him on his form. Sugawara had practiced it often in middle school, so even though he had a fairly lithe frame and wasn't the strongest person, his form in volleyball was something to be proud of. He hit his three serves over the net easily and jogged to the side of the net to help coach, as well as encourage, the rest of the team. He felt pride in being an example to even the upperclassmen. He also knew, with his optimistic nature and kind smile, it was good to be the one cheering everyone on so that a simple missed serve wouldn't bring down morale._

_"Stop your arm a little further back this time," he called out cheerfully, correcting one of the second years. The next person up was one of the other first years, who Sugawara knew to be a little nervous when it came to serving. He cheered him on to give him extra encouragement as he set up his serve. The ball fell too short and didn't make it over the net, prompting correction from both Sugawara and coach Ukai to put more force behind the swing._

_With a nod from the shy but determined first year, the ball went up again. It was off, though, and was too far to the right as it came back down. Too afraid of what might happen, the first year caught the ball instead of attempting the serve. Sugawara gave him a kind smile._

_"Hey, try doing a jump serve instead. It'll give you more time to prepare if it's up longer," Sugawara suggested, getting a nod of agreement from his coach. The first year nodded as well and stepped back to set up the jump serve._

_The ball went up again._

_Sugawara knew his team mates well, and he knew that this first year was one of their stronger players. His suggestion was because he thought the normal over-hand serve didn't allow for the body to put much power behind the hit. It was a good serve for people like himself who didn't have much strength to put into it anyway, but for those that did have more strength, a jump serve was the better option,as long as your form was right. The first year was also a wing spiker, and had good form when spiking, so the jump serve would be no different than spiking._

_The first spike serve hit on the other side of the court just as expected, earning praise from Sugawara. The first year set up for another, smiling at his triumph. The ball went up. Sugawara watched the ball shift a bit to the right once again, and might have stopped the first year, but he was already up and prepared to hit the ball. Sugawara didn't think it would make it over with the off angle, he would just correct the other player after the missed serve. Sugawara was right that the angle would throw off the trajectory._

_Far too fast, and far too hard, the ball veered off straight towards Sugawara. There was no time between the realization of what was happening and the __impact for him to react in any way. The ball hit him straight in the face and threw him backwards into the pole the volleyball net was on, the pole he was standing too close to._

_Everyone in the gym ran over to the silver haired setter as he fell to his knees on the floor. Sawamura Daichi, who was in the same class as Sugawara and was his close friend, was the one to approach the injured male and kneel down next to him. He opened his mouth to ask if Sugawara was okay when a gasped sob cut him off._

_Sugawara's eyes were wide and tears dripped slowly down his face. The noises coming from him were all a harsh gasping sob, as if he was choking on air and couldn't breathe. The small, scared setter held his arms up near his head, as if he wanted to cradle the injured part of his body, but he wasn't touching it. What earned the gasps and slowly rising panic of Daichi and the other team members was the steady flow of blood that was now dripping down Sugawara's face and onto the gym floor._

_The gymnasium soon broke into an uproar as the team members rushed in different locations to find help for the setter. A few students ran to find out if the nurse was still around while others were busy getting cold towels to press against the wound. Coach Ukai, Azumane Asahi, another of Sugawara's classmates and good friend, and Daichi stayed by the still gasping and clearly in shock Sugawara. Daichi had moved closer to him, gently rubbing his back and trying to calm him down to breathe normally, all while trying to keep his eyes away from the horrible gash that opened up on the back of the boy's head._

_Sugawara's head was pounding, his chest had tightened in fear and made it difficult to breathe, his heart beating rapidly. He could feel the blood dripping from his head and the burning pain at the source of the flow. Nothing else but the pain was registering to him right now, he couldn't even hear himself gasping and crying, but he could faintly hear the voice of his friend beside him, trying to calm him down._

_"You'll be alright, Suga. Everything's fine, everything will be alright. We'll get help, and you'll be just fine..."_

Sugawara opened his eyes slowly, staring up at the white ceiling of the infirmary. The pain had, thankfully, subsided, but his nausea persisted.

"He's awake now, ma'am," the setter heard his partner's voice say beside him, his tone soft for the sake of the injured Sugawara. He glanced over at Daichi as the nurse approached them.

"Are you feeling any better, Sugawara-kun?" she asked. Sugawara only nodded slightly at her question. "Good. Could you please sit up so I can check your injury?" He slowly started to sit up on the bed. Once the silver haired boy was sitting up fully, though, he swayed once again. The room around him was spinning. "Sugawara-kun? ...Are you going to be sick?"

The setter nodded slowly and moved to sit on the edge of the bed as the nurse set a small garbage can in front of him. He heaved up the contents of his stomach, mostly bile and the water he drank before. At least now all his pain and nausea was finally gone, leaving behind only disorientation. Daichi was gently rubbing his setter's back, then handed him a bottle of water.

"Okay, Sawamura-kun told me you had a previous accident. May I take a look at the injury?" The nurse spoke very quiet and kind to the small boy.

"Yes, of course," Sugawara answered in a shaky voice. His body felt weak from everything he'd been through. The nurse came closer to check the previous injury and make sure there wasn't a new one. The two boys sat quietly while she worked.

"Nothing seems wrong with the injury from before, and there's no new injuries other than slight bruising. However, severe head trauma can be tricky, so to be safe I suggest going to your doctor for a more thorough check-up. Does anything still hurt?"

"Not really. Just a little dizzy still, but I feel fine now."

"Are you sure?" It was Daichi that asked, earning the attention of the other two in the room. Sugawara wanted to say something, but the team captain stopped him. "Suga, you've been acting strangely all day. We're worried about you, especially Asahi and myself. Are you sure you're fine? There's nothing else going on?"

Sugawara sighed softly before smiling at Daichi. "Yes, I'm absolutely sure there's nothing else going on. I just..." Another sigh interrupted the setter. "I slipped in the shower last night and hit my head on the wall...that's all," he muttered.

"Why didn't you say anything, then?" Daichi responded.

"I didn't think it was really a big deal. I was fine last night, just...not this morning." Sugawara looked away a bit embarrassed.

The nurse smiled at the two before speaking again. "Like I said, Sugawara-kun, head trauma can be tricky. Luckily, I don't think this is anything serious. Just make sure you get a more thorough check up. For today, however, I think you should go home and rest."

The two boys nodded solemnly and thanked the nurse before leaving. Daichi accompanied the silver setter back to the locker room to change, then to the gym to let the coach and everyone else know that Sugawara was going home. They walked in to nothing happening in the gym, and both crows looking around in confusion.

"You're back!" Nishinoya shouted, running up to them. "What happened? Are you okay?!"

Sugawara nodded and smiled. "Yeah, I'm fine, but...what happened in _here_?" He looked around the quiet gym.

"Oh, it was Oikawa. He felt so bad about what happened, he told his coach not to start the match until you came back." Nishinoya turned and looked acrossthe court at the other team. "He's been sitting there like that since you left."

Sugawara looked and saw Oikawa sitting on the bench across the court, his shoulders hunched and his head in his hands. One of the "grand king's" teammates walked up and tapped his shoulder and when he finally looked up, he looked straight at Sugawara. The taller setter quickly got up and approached them.

"Sugawara-san...I-I am..._really_ sorry. I didn't mean to do that, I just... I wasn't paying attention, and I should have been, but... I'm sorry..." Oikawa's genuine guilt almost scared Sugawara.

The shorter male smiled and laid his hand gently on the other's arm."It's okay, it wasn't your fault. _I'm _the one who wasn't paying attention. I haven't really been very focused today, but..." Sugawara smirked up at Oikawa. "Next time, you won't be able to avoid facing me by knocking me out."

Oikawa scoffed at the joke. "We'll see~," he responded, an apologetic smile still on his face.

The silver haired male had enough time to talk with his own team to say goodbye and wish them luck before his mother showed up to take him home. The Karasuno captain and all the "baby crows" gathered around Sugawara to embrace him before he left. Even Tsukishima was pulled into the group hug by his friend.

"Wait, one more thing," Sugawara said as the group started to step away. He picked up a ball that was lying on their side of the court, then tossed it up and served it right to Oikawa. The brunette caught the ball, instead of hitting back, and smiled as Sugawara waved to him before walking away.

_Uuuugh, this took way too long for me to finish and the ending is so lame... I just had this idea of Sugawara having an injury, for no real reason, and this is what my brain came up with. I've had this story idea in my head for like a year. I didn't know how to put it into words though..._

_I would like to point out before anyone says anything, there is no true injury/trauma knowledge to this story at all. Head injuries, to my knowledge, don't actually act like that. I just had to come up with something. The line about head injuries being tricky is true, though._

_Anyway, hope you like it._


End file.
